CAT-MAN'S DAUGHTER

by Barbara Abercrombie ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 1981

Another affluent child of divorce, 13-year-old Kate feels like a yo-yo as she flies back and forth between her mother in New York and her father, TV's famous CatMan, in Beverly Hills. She suspects that her parents' disruptive insistence on having their time with her is mainly a power struggle between the two of them, and her only consolation on this trip to California will be seeing her grandmother, Riley, in San Pedro. Then Riley kidnaps Kate from her father's home--expecting that the two parents will accuse each other of kidnapping her, get together for a confrontation, and finally agree to decide what's best for Kate. It works out about as planned, and meanwhile Kate realizes that she can have her coveted loving family right here in the warm bohemian household where Riley runs a birthday-party business with her collection of resident strays, ages five to 75. Kate is helped to this recognition by a runaway her age who passes through during Kate's stay and whom Riley welcomes without a qualm for the girl's parents. Riley's advice to all is to stop feeling sorry for yourself and make the best of your life--but the happy ending she provides for Kate undercuts the message. Worse, though Abercrombie tells us often, via Kate's appreciation, how wonderful Riley and her household are, the domestic scenes she shows us just don't glow. And though the book's cast is varied, the individual characters are uninteresting, predictable stereotypes.

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 1981

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1981

Categories: FICTION